Peaviner apron



Feb. 7, 1967 R MCLAUCHLAN 3,302,771

PEAVI NER APRON Filed Nov. 12, 1963 INVENTOR.

#05597 D. Mun/09m A 7 TOR/YE) United States Patent M 3,302,771 PEAVINER APRON Robert D. McLauchlan, 1510 15th Ave. W., Seattle, Wash. 98199 Filed Nov. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 322,771 3 Claims. (Cl. 198-193) for such connect-or means from becoming clogged with H debris.

Another important object of this invention is to provide protection for the means connecting the ends of such a belt from damage and wear so as not to require frequent replacement.

An additional object is to provide belt end connecting means without projections to catch peas on the apron.

The foregoing objects of this invention can be accomplished by providing a waterproof peaviner apron travel ling belt made of a fabric coated with material which provides protection and durability by being resistant to moisture; The belt ends are connected by interdigitated spaced loops fastened along the respective belt ends.

The loops on one end of the belt are spaced so that when the ends of the belt are abutted the loops on the other belt end will fit easily and alternately between the loops of the first end. The two ends of the belt are then joined by passing a slat through the loops transversely of the belt ends. The joint is protected by a flap extending over it from one end of the apron belt, and the chaff and peas carried by the apron cannot be caught by the belt joint.

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a section of the apron and its connection, with parts broken away to show connecting loops and slat and reinforcing slats.

FIGURE 2 is a cross section through the apron connection at line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross section of the apron taken through the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of a section of the connection showing the relationship of the apron parts, connective loops, connecting slat and protective slat.

A peaviner machine strips peas from pods. Its apron is a continuous belt of fabric, the upper stretch of which is inclined upward in the direction of its travel. Chaff and shelled peas are deposited on the belt or apron. As the upper stretch of the belt apron moves up the inclined, it is jostled so that the peas, being round, roll down the apron and are deposited from its lower end. The chaff, on the other hand, is light and not round. The frictional engagement of the chaff with the apron is relatively great so that such chaff is carried up the incline and finally deposited beyond the upper end of the inclined belt stretch. Such aprons have customarily been made of canvass. It has been found that the acid character of peas and chaff has caused rapid deterioration of such canvas so that it has been necessary to replace the aprons frequently.

3,302,771 Patented Feb. 7, 1967 The apron of the present invention is made of material much more durable than canvass for peaviner apron use. Such material is nylon fabric having both sides coated with neoprene, or its lower side coated with neoprene and its upper side coated with Hypalon, a chlorosulfonated polyethylene. Such coated fabric is moisture resistant and moisture is not absorbed by it. Consequently, it dries easily and it will not shrink or become mildewed. A peaviner apron made of such material is much more durable tban previously used aprons.

A further problem of peaviner aprons has been to enable them to be installed on a peaviner quickly and to be removed easily from the peaviner after use. The belt apron extends around terminal pulleys and separable ends of the apron must be fastened to form a continuous loop. Connecting means for this purpose should be capable of being assembled and disengaged quickly and easily, whether the apron is wet or dry, and irrespective of the degree to which residue from the peavines has accumulated on the belt. The belt end connector of the present invention for the peaviner apron 1 includes loops 2 projecting beyond one end of the belt, as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 4, and loops 3 projecting beyond an adjacent end of belt 1 toward the belt end which carries loops 2. Belt loops 2 and 3 are preferably arranged in equally spaced relationship and are of substantially equal size, the spacing between adjacent belt loops 2 being greater than the width of a belt loop 3, and the spacing between the belts loops 3 being greater than the width of a belt loop 2. Moreover, the belt loops 2 and 3 are arranged on the respective ends of the apron or belt in complemental relationship so that the loops 2 and 3 may be interdigitated as the belt ends are moved toward each other until the loops are disposed in registry, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. To secure the belt ends together in such relationship, a slat 4, preferably of hardwood, is passed through the apertures of the two loop groups transversely of the belt to interlock such loops. Such slat is of a length substantially equal to the width of the apron 1, as shown in FIGURE 1. The tension exerted on the apron encircling the supporting pulleys will produce sufl'icient friction to retain the loopconnecting slat securely in place normally, but sliding of the slat through the loops can be prevented positively by securing selected loops to the slat by staples.

The connecting loops 2 and 3 for the belt ends are made of the same coated fabric material of which the belt is made. Such belt is principally of a single thickness of fabric material, as shown in FIGURE 2, whereas the connecting loops 2 and 3 are made of several thicknesses of material. The slat 4 is much thicker than the material of which the apron is made. Consequently, the joint is a relatively thick portion of the apron construction. The direction of travel of the apron joint in the peaviner is indicated by the arrows in FIGURES 1 and 2. A feature of the joint, according to the present invention, is a cover for the slat-connected loops having the triple function of protecting the joint from becoming clogged by deposit of peavine debris in its interstices, preventing wear of the joined loops and providing a smooth surface which will not appreciably deter shelled peas from rolling down the incline of the apron.

Attached to the trailing end of the apron 1 at the joint as the apron is moved around the pulleys carrying the apron is a flap 5 which extends rearwardly a distance sufficient to cover the loops 2 and 3 connected by slat 4. This flap is also of the same coated fabric material as the apron 1. Such flap protects the belt and connecting loops 2 and 3 of the joint from wear by scrapers which engage the outer surface of the apron to clean it. To protect the underside of the joint from excessive wear by contact with rollers and guides, a slat 6, preferably of hardwood, is mounted on the underside of the apron forward of and adjacent to the apron joint. As this slat passes over a belt-supporting roller, it will raise the belt joint slightly above the pulley surface so that the traction effort of the pulley will be applied to the slat rather than to the undersides of the loops 2 and 3 which either are held spaced somewhat from the pulley surface or at least bear on-the pulley surface with only a very light pressure.

The slat 6 not only serves to protect the undersides of the apron connector loops 2 and 3 from wear, but when the slat engages either a terminal pulley at opposite ends of the belt loop or intermediate supporting rollers over which the upper stretch of the apron runs, it lifts the belt locally as the pulley is engaged and, as the slat passes the pulley, the belt drops again until the body of the belt engages the pulley. Additional slats mounted on the underside of the apron spaced at regular intervals along its length and extending transversely of the belt produce a similar local abrupt lifting and fall of the apron so as to jostle the apron periodically. Such jostling action facilitates working of the peas down the incline of the apron.

The peaviner apron may be made of different widths, but preferably in each instance the width of the fabric used in constructing the apron is sufiiciently great to extend without interruption from one edge of the belt to the other.

To extend the life of the apron it is desirable for its longitudinal edges to be reinforced with a covering strip of fabric material similar to that of which the body is made. The adjacent belt ends may be reinforced and finished by folding under end portions 1a and 1b, as shown in FIG- URES 2 and 4. These underlapping portions can then be bonded to the upper portions by suitable contact cement which will secure together the facing surfaces. The loops 2 and 3 may be made by folding two or three thicknesses of material to form a long narrow strip. Such material is similar to that of which the apron 1 is made. Such thicknesses are stitched together to form strips of indeterminate length. These strips are cut into the lengths desired for the respective loops and then folded in the middle. Such loops can be stitched to the belt end hems either individually or in preformed groups.

It is desirable for the connecting loops to be spaced quite precisely and also extend in substantially parallel arrangement, as well as projecting almost exactly equal distances from the belt end. It is rather difficult to accomplish such precision when the belt end connecting loops are applied individually to the apron ends because the apron is rather unwieldy to handle. To facilitate application of the connecting loops, the loops 2 may be attached at proper intervals to a loop-mounting strip 8 of double thickness material which is the same as that of the apron 1. correspondingly, the loops 3 can be attached at proper intervals to the portion 5a of the flat strip 5 by stitching. A loop strip 8 and a flat strip 5 may thus be prefabricated for each apron end or such loop strips and flap strips can be made of indeterminate length and simply cut into appropriate sections for attachment to apron ends as needed. Such loop strip sections and flat strip sections will then be stitched into place on the apron end hems, as shown in FIGURE 2. The various parts may be disposed in the overlapping relationships shown in FIGURE 4, it being understood that the thickness of the material is considerably exaggerated for clarity of illustration.

As shown best in FIGURES 2 and 4, the flap 5 formed of double folded apron fabric material is of an extent lengthwise of the belt suflicient to extend from the leading side of the joint rearwardly across and beyond the joint to cover it completely. The layers of this flap are stitched together prior to such assembly and further are stitched to the apron end hem, the leading portion 5a of this flap underlying the apron end to which it is attached. Such apron end will project in the direction opposite the direction of travel of the apron. Similarly, the free edge of the flap 5 will project in the direction opposite the direction of movement of the belt so that the flap edge cannot catch peas and carry them up the incline of the belt. Since such flap extends well beyond the apron end to which the loop strip 8 is attached, such belt end also cannot catch peas.

It will be evident that movement of the apron in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIGURES 1 and 2 will pull the loops 3 against the trailing edge of the slat 4 to move such slat transversely of its length. In turn, such slat movement will exert a pulling force on the loops 2 through which it is engaged to move the apron end to which these loops are attached. It is important, therefore, as shown in FIGURE 1, for a loop 2 to be attached adjacent to the edge of the apron so that the extreme corner of the apron will be pulled evenly with the central portion of the apron. After the flap 5 and loops 3 have been attached to the other apron end, the protective slat 6 is secured to the underside of such apron end by staples driven from the upper surface of the apron, through it, into the slat. To secure the slat further and prevent it from pulling away from the staples, such belt and slat may be secured together by rivets located at least at opposite ends of such slat.

The longitudinal edges of the apron can be finished by folding upward the edge portions of the apron 9 to form a hemv For further reinforcement, an additional longitudinal strip 10 is arranged to overlie the edge hem, as shown in FIGURE 3. The adjacent surfaces of the strip 10 and fold 9 may be bonded together with contact cement and the three thicknesses of material may then be stitched together to form the reinforced strip edge portion 11. As shown in FIGURE 1, the reinforced edge extends to the flap 5, but need not extend along such flap.

Belt end connectors previously used have been metal, either of the slide fastener type or metal clip lacing type with a rawhide connecting strip. Such connectors rust and become clogged with debris. The loops 2 and 3 of coated fabric material and the slat 4 interconnecting them are sufficiently large so that the slot may be inserted and removed easily, while the loop material cannot corrode, break or be easily pulled off the apron. As long as the apron is in place on the peaviner, therefore, no difficulty should be experienced with the joint, especially because it is protected by the flap 5. The loops may be disconnected readily at any time by withdrawing the slat 4 to facilitate cleaning, repair, or storage of the apron. The loops cannot shrink around the slat to deter its removal. Also the material of the belt itself will not shrink so as to draw the loops excessively tightly against the slat.

I claim as my invention:

1. A peaviner apron for traveling over a roller in a direction transversely of the rotative axis of such roller, comprising a sheet of flexible material including adjacent end portions extending transversely of the length of the apron, interdigitated loops connected to said respective sheet end portions, 21 slat extending through and interconnecting said interdigitated loops, and a second slat secured to the underside of the sheet end portion ahead of the interconnected loops in the direction of sheet travel for engagement with such roller to lift said interconnected loops relative to the roller.

2. The peaviner apron defined in claim 1, including a flap strip having one edge portion secured between the second slat and the sheet end portion to which the second slat is secured and having a free edge portion extending over the interconnected loops.

3. A peaviner apron comprising an endless flexible sheet loop having a transverse joint including rows of a plurality of connecting strip loops on adjacent end por tions of said endless loop disposed in slightly spaced, interdigitated relationship, the strip forming each side of each of said strip loops including a plurality of super 5 6 posed layers of flexible material, means securing each of 1,982,807 12/1934 Henderson 24-33 said strip loops to an end portion of said flexible sheet 2,005,979 6/1935 Milnes 2433 100p, and a slat extending through and interconnecting 2,873,494 2/1959 Santos 24-33 said rows of interdigitated strip loops.

5 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS EVON C. BLUNK, Examzner. 384,458 6/1888 Mathews- R. E. KRISHER, A. C. HODGSON, Assistant Examzners. 

1. A PEAVINER APRON FOR TRAVELING OVER A ROLLER IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSELY OF THE ROTATIVE AXIS OF SUCH ROLLER COMPRISING A SHEET OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL INCLUDING ADJACENT END PORTIONS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE LENGTH OF THE APRON, INTERDIGITATED LOOPS CONNECTED TO SAID RESPECTIVE SHEET END PORTIONS, A SLAT EXTENDING THROUGH AND INTERCONNECTING SAID INTERDIGITATED LOOPS, AND A SECOND SLAT SECURED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE SHEET END PORTION AHEAD OF THE INTERCONNECTED LOOPS IN THE DIRECTION OF SHEET TRAVEL FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SUCH ROLLER TO LIFT SAID INTERCONNECTED LOOPS RELATIVE TO THE ROLLER. 